The Making Score course includes eleven workshops, held from October through May. The sessions explore the musical thought of a wide variety of composers, with a focus on instrumentation and orchestration. Examples are drawn from the vast classical repertoire and a range of musical traditions from throughout the world. Using tools such as study scores and orchestration books, the course aims to cultivate the students' own voices through class discussion, written exercises, and free composition.

In addition to workshops, students have opportunities to work directly with musicians. Orchestrations+ is a unique reading project undertaken with a professional group of musicians. Five student composers from the Making Score program are selected to re-arrange established works for a reading with 12 professional musicians alongside New York Youth Symphony musicians. At the annual Composition Date event, original student compositions are performed by members of the Orchestra, Chamber Music, Jazz, and Apprentice Conducting Programs.

Guest lectures for the 2010-11 season feature:

Ryan McAdams, conductor
Alex Sopp, flutist
John Corigliano, composer
Philip Lasser, composer and theorist
Nadia Sirota, violist
Michael Ippolito, composer
Shiau-uen Ding, pianist
Bridget Kibbey, harpist
Middle-Eastern Band
Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, composer
Joelle Harvey, vocalist

Kyle Blaha, Director

Kyle Blaha is currently pursuing a doctoral degree at The Juilliard School.  He holds a Master’s degree in composition from The Juilliard School and a Bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music with high distinction in composition, clarinet, and German language.  He has received multiple ASCAP Young Composer Awards and grants for study in Germany, including a Fulbright Grant and a DAAD Grant from the German government.  Premières include works for the Juilliard Orchestra in Alice Tully Hall and the New York City Ballet Choreographic Institute as well as commissions from the New York Youth Symphony for a Carnegie Hall performance, the Eastman Wind Ensemble, and the New Juilliard Ensemble for a concert in Budapest.  His teaching positions include faculty positions at Juilliard and at the European American Musical Alliance in Paris.

Michael Ippolito, Associate Director

Michael Ippolito is a versatile composer and performer who has collaborated with classical, folk and jazz musicians in performances ranging from experimental improvisation to traditional Klezmer music. He has been commissioned and performed by ensembles such as the Cincinnati Symphony, the Albany Symphony and the Florida Orchestra and his works have been performed in the United States, Europe and Asia. He is a graduate of the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, having studied composition with Joel Hoffman and Michael Fiday and improvisation with Alan Bern. Currently, he is a student of the Juilliard School, studying with John Corigliano.